Best resource for finding a spot for 37’ travel trailer for CO Elk hunt?

[savagebowhunter]

My wife and I are going on our first Elk hunt and just bought a Keystone Cougar to stay in. I’ve been looking for hunting spots with OnX and Google Earth but haven’t found a good way to find camping spots to set up. We have a generator so hook ups aren’t necessary. Anyone with experience have good advice?
Thank you!!

 

[Rancho Loco]

Rally that thing up a FS road and drop it on the first flat spot, yee haw.

 

[ChrisS]

For that monster, probably the best that I know of is this website: "https://freecampsites.net/"

I can tell you where not to go near Durango unless you want to shake that thing down to just the axles.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

The harsh reality may be that remote locations and 37' trailers don't easily together. When I was a kid my grandpa jacked up his 20 foot beater for this express purpose, and even it was tricky to get anywhere worth going. Good luck, and good for you for thinking about it on the front end of the trip.

 

[dwatling]

I usually just Google rv camp grounds near my hunting spots. I too have a generator but having the full hookups is nice. You can leave the ac/ heater on all day with no worries. Also a lot of rv sights have dry sights which are much cheaper and have no hookups at all. Or just find you a chunk of blm and park there, either way you'll probably be a couple miles away from your hunting spot with a rig that size.

 

[LopeHunter]

I usually just Google rv camp grounds near my hunting spots. I too have a generator but having the full hookups is nice. You can leave the ac/ heater on all day with no worries. Also a lot of rv sights have dry sights which are much cheaper and have no hookups at all. Or just find you a chunk of blm and park there, either way you'll probably be a couple miles away from your hunting spot with a rig that size.

This should be Plan B, if not Plan A. Getting something into a place is often easier than getting out if snows or rains or some trees blow down. I have been on roads that dwindled to be more narrow and more narrow and had to back up a few hundred yards just to turn around. One the pavement ends, can be a trap in the wrong vehicle.

Find a nice place to set up the trailer a day or two prior to season within hour of where you want to hunt as the sun rises on opening day then use the truck to commute to where you hunt. If there are a lot of tags in play during your CO elk hunt then most likely you will be moving around to try and find some elk rather than hunting the same patch of mountain every day. There can be large sections that just no longer hold elk after they are bumped or whatever. If you are hunting a tag you can get year after year then use this first year to figure out the logistics for next time while you are hunting this time.

 

[mplane72]

Best advice I can think of is to call the USFS office for the area you plan on going and ask them some very specific questions.

My observations of the different National Forests I've been in is usually lower down off the still good gravel road, which is usually a county road, will be areas people camp in their big rigs. You should expect to have neighbors. You will probably want to drive further in every day to hunt, the price you pay for comfort.

At the very least I would suggest dropping that thing low and driving ahead to be sure of where you're going. I say that as a guy who's pulled some trailers, but not campers, into places they don't belong.

 

[ntodwild]

Not much you can do other than have someone scout for you if you can't actually get there as far as getting into wilderness/FS roads.Even then there is no way of knowing that someone has not taken a public camping spot until you show up. I would hate to find myself in a situation where there is no place to turn around and a 37' trailer behind me. Other than having someone scout for you I would say to take the advice of a "near by" RV park or camp ground that will accommodate and spend a lot of fuel traveling back and forth into hunting areas day after day.

The other option is: I have done this for several years in a row when one of our hunting areas access roads washed out and the FS didn't fix the road. Make a base camp (RV site or campground that will accommodate close by) and spend the time to setup a spike camp in the area you choose to hunt with tents and all that is needed for the season. Spend 3 days in spike camp, coming back to your RV on the 3rd night to refresh and recharge (good night sleep, shower, meal) and head back out to spike camp the following morning for another 3 days. Great way to rejuvenate a hunters spirit. Repeat as necessary. Logistically this requires some work as well as additional equipment. Primarily backpacking gear or tent gear with cots and all needed (water filtration, stoves, sleeping bags and so on). It is surely more work.

During the 4 years we had to do this we found our way around the road washout with ATV's. Our spike camp was 7 miles past the wash. Everything that spike camp had in it had to come in either by foot or ATV. It was well worth it as we tagged out all 4 years. Hunters didn't want to go through the trouble that we did so in many ways it was like a private backcountry hunt.

Hopefully this gives you some more options and something else to think about. Good luck

 

[brnsvllyjohn]

You don't mention what your tow vehicle is. I hope it is a 4x4 with really good tires and chains for all 4. I have seen much smaller rigs than yours get left for weeks at a time because they were brave and towed the trailer in too far before the bad weather hit. I used to take mine (21') as far as I could but I now usually set up right off of the pavement or at least on a very good gravel road. I then drive in further with my 4x4 pickup or quad depending on the area I am hunting.

 

[Nick_CO]

If your set on going primitive with a big rig, one resource could be Google Earth. Look for large pulloffs and turnarounds on National Forest or BLM land adjacent to a maintained County Road.

Safest bet is private Campgrounds / RV Parks. If you go this route make reservations ahead of time. You don't want to be scrambling last minute and have to hunt out of the Wal-Mart parking lot.

 

[rideold]

What unit are you planning on hunting?

 

[Rwchet]

Check out the “allstays” app.

 

[Ben Sellers]

Get there early too. The good flat spots can be in high demand in some places.

 

[elkduds]

Robot or human?

Because Plan B.

 

[elkhnter]

Campendium app works best for me.

 

[npaden]

You don't mention what your tow vehicle is. I hope it is a 4x4 with really good tires and chains for all 4. I have seen much smaller rigs than yours get left for weeks at a time because they were brave and towed the trailer in too far before the bad weather hit. I used to take mine (21') as far as I could but I now usually set up right off of the pavement or at least on a very good gravel road. I then drive in further with my 4x4 pickup or quad depending on the area I am hunting.

This. The last couple times I've pulled a travel trailer to a place that I wanted to hunt out of I ended up within 5 miles of pavement. Both times we ended up getting weather and I watched some folks who had been a bit more daring leaving their trailers where they sat due to weather coming in. We had to get up maybe an extra 20 or 30 minutes early to get to where some of those others had their camps setup, but I slept a lot better knowing I was going to be able to get my trailer out when I wanted to.

 

[mtmuley]

Take a tent. mtmuley

 

[savagebowhunter]

You don't mention what your tow vehicle is. I hope it is a 4x4 with really good tires and chains for all 4. I have seen much smaller rigs than yours get left for weeks at a time because they were brave and towed the trailer in too far before the bad weather hit. I used to take mine (21') as far as I could but I now usually set up right off of the pavement or at least on a very good gravel road. I then drive in further with my 4x4 pickup or quad depending on the area I am hunting.

Toyota Tundra 4x4 with good off road tires. I’ve taken it on some pretty rough Jeep trails (carefully) with no issues. Plan to drive it as far as I can to the hunting areas.

 

[JLS]

Walmart?

 

[savagebowhunter]

What unit are you planning on hunting?

Looking at 59 but open to any OTC unit. We’re seasoned whitetail hunters but total Elk rookies lol.